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The Week in Housing Advocacy - Week 9

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Michele Thomas, Director of Policy & Advocacy

The Post Floor Cutoff Report

With last week’s first floor cutoff, many bills are now dead for the session. Unfortunately, the Truth in Evictions Reporting Act - SSB 5376 (Habib) didn’t get brought up for a vote on the Senate floor. The bill was ready for a vote. But then a lot of drama over an unrelated bill ended up consuming significant time and energy on the Senate floor. Our bill, which had bipartisan support, was both a casualty and an innocent bystander.

Housing Trust Fund Advocacy Begins Now!

Now that we are past the halfway point of session, and the budget release is getting closer, you’ll see we’ll be turning more attention to funding our policy issues and on finalizing the budgets. It is time to ramp up our advocacy on budget related issues. This week is a critical juncture to push for $100 million for the Housing Trust Fund. We have a goal of 150 advocates sending emails!

Start by clicking here!

Then please share the action page link with at least three other people who'll take action because you asked them: bit.ly/Week9-HTF.

Also dead is SHB 2051 (Farrell) which would have provided local jurisdictions the option of allowing up to 90-days notice of significant rent increases. This bill would have also clarified and improved the standing state authority that allows cities the ability to provide relocation assistance for tenants under certain circumstances. The City of Seattle is currently the only city that has provided for these protections, but other cities are considering them as well.

As reported last week, most of the Housing Alliance’s support issues are still alive, with the one exception of SSB 5898 (Miloscia). This bill addressed some issues with HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) and hoped to improve data collection. There may be a chance to still address some of the issues by amending part of the bill onto another one that is still alive. Many advocates and legislators can use this strategy at this point in the session. If there is a bill that is still alive that has an appropriate bill title, it is sometimes possible to amend the bill to incorporate some aspects of a dead bill. This is one reason why you may hear people say that no issue is really dead until the gavel signals that session is over.

Any bills that don’t make it this year will have the opportunity to be revisited next year. It is frequently assumed that bills will take multiple years to pass, with the first year of a bill being an “education year”. Of course, we prefer good bills to move more quickly through the process. But it is important to know that if a bill doesn’t make it this year, all the education and advocacy will help improve its chances next year.

Town Halls!

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I called into my telephone town hall last week and was really excited to hear my neighbors asking about the Housing Trust Fund, about services for people with mental illness, and about the Fair Tenant Screening Act! I was also pleased to hear that my lawmakers were very well informed on these issues and very supportive. Did you participate in a recent legislative town hall and learn more about where your lawmakers stand on affordable housing and homelessness issues? Please consider emailing us at the Housing Alliance to share what you learned. Click here to email Michele now.

And don’t forget to check if there is a town hall coming up. As we shared last week, you can stay informed about town halls and more by signing up for your lawmaker’s newsletter and by checking their homepage at leg.wa.gov. Here are two lists of some upcoming town halls. One is compiled by the Washington United for Fair Revenue Coalition. And this one is from the Washington State Senior Citizens' Lobby. If you don’t see your lawmakers on either of the lists, be sure to double check their homepages to see if one has been scheduled since these lists were last updated.

Looking Ahead

Now that we are past the halfway point of session, and the budget release is getting closer, you’ll see we’ll be turning more attention to funding our policy issues and on finalizing the budgets. It is time to ramp up our advocacy on budget related issues. This week is a critical juncture to push for $100 million for the Housing Trust Fund. The Housing Alliance has a goal of 150 action takers by the end of this week. This will ensure that the Housing Trust Fund is top of the priority list while budget decisions are being made. Help us ensure that hundreds of advocates take action by the end of this week. First, click here to take action today. Next, share this action alert. Here are some ideas:

Share the action page link with all of your coworkers: http://bit.ly/Week9-HTF.

Share the action page link with at least three other people who may only take action if you ask them to: http://bit.ly/Week9-HTF.

Are you a board member? Ask your fellow board members to join you in taking action this week: http://bit.ly/Week9-HTF.

Are you a student? Ask your classmates to join you: http://bit.ly/Week9-HTF.

Do you attend religious services? Bring this up and suggest that others join you in action: http://bit.ly/Week9-HTF.

Post the action page on Facebook.

Promote the action page on Twitter.

Photo credit: Kulshan Community Land Trust

National Housing Conference Coming to Seattle

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Finally, we have this excellent opportunity for staff and board of Housing Alliance member organizations. Our friends over at the D.C.-based National Housing Conference (NHC) are organizing a two-day gathering in Seattle from April 7-8. Registration rate is $150, but up to 35 Housing Alliance organization members will receive a 20% discount using the code. Register here, and when prompted, use the discount code: WLIHA20. If you’re not sure if your organization is a member, check here.

Gaining community acceptance for affordable housing has long been a sticking point in developing successful communities. National and local polling data often show support for solutions to homelessness and housing affordability challenges, but when it comes to siting, neighbors often balk at the prospect of affordable housing being built nearby. Community opposition can create delays that put developments in jeopardy and make it tougher for the next affordable development to succeed.

NHC's Solutions for Housing Communications 2015 Convening will connect you with over 200 affordable housing developers, advocates, funders, and government officials for panels, workshops, and round-table discussions on challenges and opportunities in community acceptance. We'll learn together, discovering best practices for countering community opposition and exploring creative new approaches to meeting this perennial challenge.

 


 

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